Garlic Chives (Nira) Update

Garlic Chive (Nira) flowers are so beautiful and tasty in salads, but after Chives go to flower the tender blades become tough, so they will have to be cut so new fresh tender Chives can re-grow.

These Chives were cut on 25 September and on 28 September had grown roughly 3 cm (1 in).

By 4 October the Chives had grown nearly 30 cm (12 in) and can be harvested at any time. The Chives will grow a little more, but will remain tender for months. Chives continue to re-grow when cut, so if harvested little by little, Chives are able to provide a continuous source of fresh Chives all year around.

Papaya Saplings

The Papaya saplings are strong and growing well, but I need to start considering which one to keep. In order to get one strong and productive tree, only one can remain. I planted three pods of Papaya. I will leave one tree grow in the current location and will remove the saplings from the other two locations and transplant a few saplings elsewhere. I'll add updates later. 

Fall Planting in a Sub-tropical Climate

We had a pretty big typhoon 10-days ago that devastated many of my vegetables, but it gave me the opportunity to  begin a new fall crop. Remember, I am in a sub-tropical location, so many plants grow nearly year around. Here's what I have going on the end of September.

If you recall, I was growing strawberries in this tower, but re-purposed it for the below, which I grew from my own seed stock:

• First Tier - Basil
• Second Tier - Green Peppers 
• Third Tier - Tomato
• Fourth Tier - Lettuce
• Fifth Tier - Tomato
• Sixth Tier - Pineapple and some Lettuce

Cucumber (Top Right), Okawakame (Center), String Beans (Bottom Left).

In the front section I recharged the soil and planted Red Cucumbers (Moi) and Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri).

Tomatoes

Eggplant (Nasu) 

Green Peppers (Piman) 

Cilantro (Pakkuchi)

This is my Green Pepper plant from nearly five months ago. I was going to remove it, but found new peppers and flowers, so decided to leave it and give it same fertilizer and plant food. To the left I have a Red Lettuce plant and in the center a Garlic Clove (Niniku).

I put this small Red Lettuce plant in a bucket to hide it from my puppy, who loves lettuce. She can smell it, but hasn't found it YET.

I'm trying something new, Strawberry Guava. I bought these from the famer's market last week and like them, so saved some of the seeds and see how it goes.

Strawberry Guava

Roses

We have seven verities of roses. Most of them bloom continuously throughout the year and three verities are blooming now. They are quite beautiful.

Hibiscus

I love Hibiscus plants, because their flowers are beautiful and bloom all year around. Unfortunately, the flowers only last one day.

Banana Bell (Banana Flower)

So, in one of my previous posts I explained the bell can be eaten and I would share how that was done. When the Banana bunch is finished producing, the branch between the last banana and bell will continue to grow. I let is grow for three or four weeks before I cut it off so it does not continue using energy that could go towards growing bigger bananas. Also, I leave only one banana on the last hand to drive the energy up the bunch. 

This is the bell. I will warn you that banana sap will leave a brown stain on any material that cannot be removed easily, so protect your counter top with paper towels and rub cooking oil on the counter top and your hands before you get started. The oil will prevent the sap from penetrating and can be washed off with soap and water. 

 

When you start to remove the pedals, you will see banana flowers. These can be eaten and many cultures cut them up and add them to stir fries, but the Stigma and Perianth (see diagram below) need to be removed for each flower since they are tough, which I find tedious, so do not use them.

After all the pedals and flowers are removed you will get to a solid core. This can be eaten raw in salads or in stir fries, but it is bitter. So, for many it is an acquired taste, like bitter melon (Goya).



Kumquat Tree (Kinkan)

My Kumquat Tree (Kinkan) bloomed a few weeks ago and so apparently the bees did a great job, because so many fruit matured. This mere 50 cm (20 inches) tall tree has over 20 fruit. Amazing!

Garlic Chives (Nira)

I used some Garlic Chives (Nira) is a stir fry a few days ago, but it was so tough, so I decided to trim it all. I trimmed the Chives three days ago and found it has grown back quickly. I found it is growing at a rate of 1cm (1/2 inch) a day.

Garlic (Niniku)

I planted a few cloves of store bought Garlic (Niniku) about a month ago and one clove is growing well. Garlic is a bit difficult to grow in a hot and humid climate. Garlic is a bulb and like most bulbs they do not like a lot of water and tend to rot in the moist dirt if the dirt does not drain extremely well, and because Garlic has a long growth period, roughly nine months, you need to monitor its health closely.

Red Cucumber (Moi)

The Red Cucumber (Moi) plant in my side yard is just about finished and I was going to remove the vine, but discovered this baby Moi hanging off my Persimmon tree. Nice surprise.

Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri) Seeds

I was shocked to learn that the pod surrounding the seeds of Bitter Melons that have ripened are sweet. Of course, you don't want to eat the seeds, but instead of washing off the red seed pod, you can eat them. They are very sweet with no particular flavor. Then keep the seeds for planting.

Bitter melon seeds can be planted immediately or years later. They are a hardy plant. 

Papaya Fruit

I'm starting to experiment with Papaya as a fruit. Papaya have a unique taste, but kind of taste like a Cantaloupe. I'm trying to determine when to eat them for the sweetest possible flavor. I let this sit for about five days. I was sweet, but feel it could be sweeter if I let it sit longer. I have a lot of Papaya, so can experiment a lot.   

Giboushi Flower (aka, Hostas or Plantain Lilies)

Giboushi Flower (aka, Hostas or Plantain Lilies) starting to bloom. What a beautiful flower. The Giboushi flower and leaves will die in the winter and the leaves will start to sprout in late spring or early summer. The flower typically starts to bloom in late August or early September. 

Avocado Tree

Had a nice surprise today when I was trimming the Red Cucumber (Moi) plants in the front of the house. I found an Avocado tree. I'll keep it trimmed so it does not overgrow the palm trees.

Galic Chives (Nira)

Garlic Chives (Nira) flowers are so beautiful. I will not let them go to seed since I do not use the seeds to propagate, instead I'll add them to a salad and eat them. Garlic Chives are best propagated by digging up the roots, breaking apart the bulbs and replanting. 

Garlic Chives can be propagated every two or three years.  

Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri)

The Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri) in the front of the house is doing fine and starting to flower, but I have not seen any female flowers yet.

The second floor balcony plant is really productive with over ten Goya on the vine and still flowering, plus the fruit that ripened and fell have created new vines that have started to climb.

Papaya

I took a handful of seeds from a Papaya I recently ate and planted them and was surprised how many saplings sprouted. When they get 6 to 8 inches tall I will choose three or four of the strongest and transplant them.

Tomato

Quite a few Tomato plants sprouted from fruit that dropped last season. I suspect these are Cherry Tomatoes. It has been quite hot and humid, so was surprised to see one of the plants flowering.

Okawakame (a kind of Madeira vine)

My wife and I bought a bag of Okawakame seeds from a farmer's market. The seeds were sold to eat, but I decided to plant them. The seeds look like small Ginger root. I planted this particular seed about a week ago and it has already started to sprout.

Okawakame is a vine, so I planted it with the Bitter melon (Goya), right side, and Bush Beans (String Beans), left side. There is a white net against the wall to allow them all to climb.

Okawakame Seed

Okawakame Sprout 

Okawakame Vine

Green Peppers (Piman)

I picked the last of the rip Green Peppers (Piman) today. I generally leave the peppers on the plant until they turn red because they tend to get sweeter, plus they add color to your dishes. But, as I picked the last pepper I noticed new buds and one small pepper. I thought this plant was spent since it has been producing peppers for nearly four months now and started a new crop, but I guess you can never have too many peppers. 

Bitter Melon (Goya, Nigauri)

I decided to make Goya Campuru tonight so picked one of the large Goya in my side yard. If you recall from my previous posts, this plant has grown wild for the past two years and this year it has produced some really nice Goya (240 grams / 8.5 ounces). See the picture below.

Just as a side note, my second floor balcony plant is doing well and has about 10 Goya. Some have ripened and fell off, and have created more plants. I added some fertilizer and nutrients last night and suspect I will get many more Goya for months to come.

Avocado Tree (Transplant)

I will walk you through how I transplant my Avocado trees. Now I intend to keep this in a pot rather than planting it in the ground, but you can use similar soils and just increase the amount.

 

Just a note for those transplanting a tree in poor soil, like red clay. Okinawa is notorious for it's red clay. In this situation plant your tree on a raised mound. If the primary root grows into the red clay, it will most likely die of root rot.

 

Avocado trees need the following nutrients for healthy growth:

• Nitrogen — for growth and development.
• Potassium — for growth and fruit bearing.
• Boron — growth.
• Zinc — fruit.
• Phosphorous — healthy metabolism.
• Calcium — roots, good structure.
• Magnesium — photosynthesis.
• Sulfur.

 

Well, lets get started...

This is the sapling I've been growing in water for months. It did not start to grow until recently, but when it started to grow it grew quickly. Normally, I cut the tip off when it gets 8 to 10 inches tall to promote more branches, but I waited too long, so I'm transplanting it now before it gets any taller. 

High quality flower and vegetable potting soil. 

Red soil beads. I use this soil to help keep the mix loose. It adds space and helps the roots breath and water drain. 

Fertilizer pellets. These pellets really charge the soil quickly. I will need more Potassium later, but will add more nutrients when I feed the tree, which I will do about every two weeks using liquid fertilize.

• Nitrogen 5
• Phosphate 4
• Potassium 1

Standard potting soil for fill. 

Straw, grass cutting or mulch for bedding. 

Some people use pebbles or some sort of screen at the bottom of their pots, but I typically use mulch, straw or grass cuttings.

I add one third part of each soil, plus throw a handful of fertilizer pellets in the mix. 

Mix well.

Fill the planter halfway. Hold the tree and gently sit the roots on the soil without letting go and slow add soil around the tree. The roots are super sensitive, so it is critical to take your time. 

Water well and place in a location that does not get too much direct sun or wind until the roots settle. I usually sit it inside near a window for a week or so before moving outside.